International Alumni Events

A common approach to Iran: What’s next on the transatlantic agenda?

On September 3, Project Interchange (PI) hosted a luncheon for over 20 attendees in Brussels, Belgium. The assembly was called to examine joint next steps in the handling of Iran by the United States and Europe. Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi, the executive director of the American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute, led the discussion; Project Interchange’s Veronica Machtey described the value of PI’s alumni network in continuing the conversation which began in Israel. In addition to PI alumni from multiple trips, the event also drew several prospective seminar participants.

To view pictures from this event, click here.

Over 50 Indian alumni of various Project Interchange seminars came together on August 12 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The list of attendees included members of industry, government, and entertainment- several of whom flew in from Mumbai, Cochin, Bangalore, and Delhi to attend the event. Mark Soffer, Israel’s ambassador to India, provided the keynote address.

To view pictures from this event, click here.

In conjunction with AJC Rome Representative Lisa Billig, PI helped organize an alumni workshop at a local Literary Café to discuss the challenges of minority integration.  Speakers included: Edna Angelica Livne Calò, an Italian-Israeli who directs an Arab-Jewish children’s theatre group at Kibbutz Sasa on the Lebanese border;  PI alumnus Yahye Pallavicini (President of the Higher Council for Education in the West, Italian Ministry of the Interior) who spoke about the role of Muslims in Italian society, and Gualtiero Peirce (Journalist at La Repubblica Newspaper and news anchor at RAI ), who showed his documentary on a Jewish, Muslim and Catholic primary school in Rome, called “The First Day of God”.

Participants of the French Muslim Seminar from December 2008 joined Valerie Hoffenberg, AJC’s Representative, for a luncheon where they evaluated their experience in Israel, and shared some thoughts and feelings after their trip. Following events in Gaza, and during a meeting with Ms. Hoffenberg, alumni developed and published a National Plea for understanding and tolerance which appeared in Le Parisien newspaper on January 10th, 2009. On February 5th 2009, many PI alumni from the French Muslim and other previous seminars participated in the Conference, which was held at the National Assembly and organized by the AJC Paris office.  The Conference was a big success, with a diverse crowd of 300 attending the four round tables on intercultural dialogue, discussing the values of the French Republic, the role of religion in the State and questions of identity.

AJC’s Berlin Office inaugurated a Literary Salon and provided 70 alumni with books recently written in German by authors Sylke Tempel, Gil Yaron and Professor Michael Brenner on various aspects of Israel and Zionism. Executive Director, Deidre Berger, conducted a book discussion on the issues raised by the literature.

A dinner was held for PI alumni and participants confirmed in an upcoming scheduled to leave shortly on a seminar for French Muslim leaders. Speakers included Valerie Hoffenberg, AJC’s Representative in Paris, and Richard Prasquier, President, Le Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF), the umbrella organization for the French Jewish Community.

Valerie Hoffenberg, the AJC’s Representative in paris and Jean—Francois Cope, Mayor of Meaux,at the conference in Paris.

The conference in Paris.

At a dinner hosted by the Latvian Foreign Ministry and developed with the AJC Office of International Jewish Affairs, Mr. Eldad Beck, the European correspondent of Yediot Aharonot, lectured on “Expectations for the New Year - Prospects for Middle East peace?” Over 35 participants enjoyed the conversation, which was moderated by Rabbi Andrew Baker, Director of AJC’s Office of International Jewish Affairs. The Director of Policy and Planning at the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Gints Jagermanis, spoke movingly about the impact of his travels in Israel, which he described as a “life-changing event.” The session was covered by Latvian press and television.

Eldad Beck, Karina Petersone, Deputy Speaker of the Latvian Parliament, and Ambassador Gints Jegermanis in Riga

AJC’s Transatlantic Institute hosted this event, which explored the impact of U.S. elections on transatlantic relations through presentations by Michael Jacobson, Senior Fellow in the Washington Institute’s Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy and David Makovsky, Senior Fellow and Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute. Twenty-one people attended.

Israeli Deputy Ambassador to the European Union , Mr Zvi Tal and Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest